Trapped in the Big Valley
by The Mayor of Ninjago City
Summary: In the course of fighting an enemy of Ninjago, Jay and Lloyd get pulled through a portal and end up in Stockton, California in the late 1800s. They end up meeting the Barkley family and working on the ranch. Can Jay help the Barkleys save their citrus crop? Can Lloyd avoid falling in love with Audra? Will the two ninja brothers ever be able to return to Ninjago?
1. An Unplanned Journey Begins

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Howdy! This is The Mayor of Ninjago City with a new story called **_**Trapped in The Big Valley**_**. I am posting the starting chapter today in honor of the FOUR-YEAR anniversary of my story **_**The Fire Within a Ninjago Soldier**_**. **

**You might be asking why I don't just post the next chapter of my soldier story. Well, I've hit a bit of a snag with the plot of that tale, and I'm mulling over where I want to take the story in its next chapter. So while I'm still mulling, I'm pursuing this idea for a crossover of two of my favorite TV shows.**

**I assume that most of you reading this are familiar with the TV show Ninjago, which features our favorite ninjas as they battle evil. **

**For those of you who aren't familiar with the TV show The Big Valley, it features the well-to-do Barkley family as they manage their ranch near Stockton, California in the late 1800s. Victoria Barkley is the family matriarch. Her sons are Jarrod, Nick, and Heath, and her daughter is Audra. Silas is their faithful butler.**

**The tale you are about to read below takes place approximately two years after my story **_**The Fire Within: An Unforgettable Honeymoon**_**, in which Kai and his brand new bride Samantha encounter danger just after their wedding. **

**I hope you, my dear reader, will enjoy this first chapter of **_**Trapped in The Big Valley**_**!**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - An Unplanned Journey Begins**

"Is the portal open yet inside the stable, Nya?" Jay shouted into his wrist comlink before dodging another ball of energy from Sebastian, the evil sorcerer with whom the ninja were currently engaging in battle. The protectors of Ninjago had tracked their nemesis to the stable of a horse farm and surrounded him, and they were now relentlessly firing their elements at him to try to neutralize him.

"I'm still working on it!" Nya wailed back from her remote post on the Bounty, frantically pushing buttons on the computer console. "I wish Sebastian hadn't shown up before we could completely test the functionality!" She was using a new portal program which she and Jay had developed. When the evil sorcerer unexpectedly managed to escape from the island to which he had been exiled, the decision was made to use the portal program to recapture him. The ninja team planned to force the enemy through the portal, landing him into a cell at Kryptarium Prison which was specially designed to prevent him from using his dark magic to escape.

"Technology troubles, Master of Lightning?" Sebastian sneered from the doorway of the stable, his eyes constantly darting around the yard between the stable and the farmhouse, watching for strikes from the ninja while shooting energy balls of his own.

"Not as much trouble as you're in right now!" the blue ninja shouted his retort. Indeed, he could observe his comrades at their various vantage points around the farmyard, and they looked as determined as ever to capture their prey. Kai looked especially resolute, and Jay understood why, after what Kai's wife Samantha had endured at the hands of the scumbag last year.

"Ho hum! This is becoming quite boring!" Sebastian called out. "I think I shall go inside and take a restful nap!" And with that, he retreated into the horse stable.

Lloyd emerged from behind a rain barrel, a few yards to Jay's right. "I'm heading to the stable door! Cover me, Jay!"

"Got yer back, pardner!" Jay affirmed, keeping vigilant as he watched the green ninja scurry across the expanse of farmyard to approach the stable door. But there were no aggressive moves from the evil sorcerer. The farmyard and its surroundings were quiet.

When Lloyd reached a rain barrel near the stable door, he crouched low. He pointed to Zane, Cole, and Kai and wordlessly signaled that they should station themselves on the other side of the stable. Then he pointed to Jay and silently beckoned to him to join him at the rain barrel. Jay did so.

Together, the two swiftly climbed the three short stairs and flanked the stable door with their backs against the wall, ready to burst in and use their powers at a moment's notice.

Lloyd cocked his head to listen for any movement inside the building. Hearing none, he waved at Jay to follow him inside.

The stable, with about a dozen stalls on each side of the passageway to the other end of the structure, was tranquil. Half of the stalls were occupied with horses.

"Surrender now, Sebastian! Remember, you're surrounded!" Lloyd called out. He quietly signaled to Jay to check each stall on one side while he scouted the stalls on the other.

The search of first few stalls proved fruitless for Lloyd, but as he peered over the gate of a stall with a black horse, the animal spit fluid into his eyes. The green ninja moaned and fell to his knees, clutching his face.

Jay immediately turned around and began to rush to his brother's aid, but the black horse suddenly morphed into Sebastian, and Jay found himself unable to take another step, as if his feet were stuck to the ground.

"Do not bother with attempting to save your fellow ninja, Master of Lightning. Merely bid him goodbye, as I am about to send him to the Cursed Realm!"

"Guys, help!" Jay yelled. "Lloyd's hurt!"

"They cannot save the green ninja, either, I'm afraid," Sebastian chuckled diabolically. "I have put a force field around the building to prevent them from entering."

"Please get the portal open NOW, Nya!" Jay urgently pleaded into the comlink.

"I just changed some code and pushed the button and...it's...working! Oh, it's working!" Nya squealed.

Suddenly, a black shimmery hole appeared over Sebastian's head, and his evil grin turned into a frown as a wind from the hole began to pull the tails of his black frock coat and the ends of his long black hair upward.

"How...how is this possible without magic?" he sputtered as the strength of the wind grew, and with it the decibel level inside the stable.

Jay marveled at the evidence that the portal technology was indeed working.

Sebastian attempted to step out from underneath the hole, but by then the wind was strong enough to lift him off the ground.

"No! No! I will not be taken by this anomaly!" he cried as he reached for a railing of the stall. He managed to cling to it, but only for a second.

"Nooooo!" he wailed as the hole finally sucked him up into its interior. Then, just as suddenly as the hole appeared, it vanished, and the stable became quiet once again. The horses acted as if nothing had happened.

"Nya! Make sure Sebastian went to Kryptarium!" Jay directed through the comlink. "He went through the portal!"

The blue ninja next turned his attention to Lloyd, who sat on the ground rubbing the back of his head. Jay instinctively ran to him, surprised and pleased that his feet could move again.

"You OK, Lloyd?" he inquired, crouching down to the green ninja's level.

The blond young man looked up at his friend with a bewildered expression. "Yeah. My eyes stopped stinging as soon as the noise stopped."

"That's good!" Jay stood up and entered the stall where Sebastian had stood only a minute ago. As he examined the area, he mused, "I wonder if our portal program left any -"

His ruminations were interrupted by a big rush of wind. He looked up and saw blackness above him.

"Another portal?!" he exclaimed. "Nya! A second portal opened up! Shut down the program!" he yelled into the comlink.

"What?! Another portal? How can that be? There's no location registered on the other side of it!"

"I dunno, but shut it down! Now!" Jay panicked, his body beginning to rise from the ground. By this time, Lloyd had scrambled to his feet to aid his blue-clad brother, grabbing onto his arm and holding on to a stall rail.

"Hurry, Nya!" The wind lifted Jay off his feet. Now he was upside down, clutching Lloyd.

"I'm trying!"

"Can't hold on much longer!" Lloyd called out, gritting his teeth as he struggled to retain his grip on the stall rail.

"Please, you've got to!" Nya begged. "I just need a minute to…"

The other ninja brothers ran into the stable, just in time to see their comrades disappear into the vortex. The vortex vanished, and suddenly, all was quiet once again.

As the horrified brothers stared at the location of the action that had just taken place, they saw a small metal object drop to the ground and heard the clink.

It was Jay's wrist comlink.


	2. Where Are We?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I hope everyone's December has been fantastic! And I wish everyone a wonderful 2020! I hope to continue earning your support of my writing in the year ahead.**

**In the chapter below, there's a reference to a previous story in the _The Fire Within_ series, _The Fire Witch Incident_.**

**Lloyd and Jay will now soon discover what's on the other side of the portal...**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Where Are We?**

Something was tapping Lloyd's cheeks. The actions annoyed him, for he wanted to remain asleep.

"Lloyd! Wake up!" a voice hissed.

Lloyd finally complied when he felt his shoulders being shaken violently. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jay's face right in front of him.

"I'm awake now," he growled. "Get away from me!"

"Lloyd, I can't get away from you even if I tried! We're in a prison cell!"

Jay's announcement erased the last remnants of grogginess from Lloyd's brain, and he quickly sat up to survey their surroundings.

Jay was right. Lloyd found himself sitting on a cot identical to one on the opposite wall of the small enclosure. The iron bars which caged him and his blue-clad ninja brother were reminiscent of the cell in which Fiora the fire witch had imprisoned them, their three brothers, and Kai's then-fiancee Sam a few years back. But these walls were made of brick and mortar, not like the stone barricades in which they all had been trapped during that hot, dry summer. The current setting seemed a bit more civilized.

Lloyd spotted a small barred window a few feet above the opposite cot. "Have you looked through that window up there?" he inquired of Jay.

"No. I woke up just before I woke you up."

Lloyd stood on the rickety bed and held onto the bars to steady himself as he peered through them. He could see the sun shining down on the unpaved street of a town. No motorized vehicles could be seen; horses appeared to be the mode of transportation, whether being ridden or being used to pull wagons. People appeared to be calmly going about their daily business. Women wore long skirts; the majority of men wore boots and/or bolo ties. All wore coats.

"It's a little cold in here," the green ninja observed as he climbed down from his perch, realizing he wouldn't mind wearing a coat himself right now. "It must be winter in this place, wherever we are. And the people don't seem to be too technologically advanced, since they're using horses to get around." He seated himself once more on the cot upon which he had awakened.

"Oooh, let me see!" Jay exclaimed, climbing up to take his own look through the window. For a minute he watched the action on the street. As he stepped down once again, he commented, "It actually makes sense that we ended up here. Nya said there was no location registered on the other side of the portal, so the program used artificial intelligence to come up with a location on its own. It knew the previous portal's destination was a jail cell, and I'll bet it could tell we'd been around horses, so it put two and two together and searched the universe for a destination that matched the criteria."

He plopped down onto the cot upon which he had just stood, and he tapped his chin in thought. "Now, how can we get back to Ninjago, since I lost the comlink?" He began to cheerfully hum a tune as he pondered.

Lloyd wished he was as positive as Jay seemed to be about their return to Ninjago. Struggling to push away the scary thought that they may never be able to return to their homeland, he swallowed and announced, "Well, let's start out by getting out of this cell first."

Suddenly, they heard a clattering of metal from a distance. The noise continued for several seconds, and when it stopped, the sound of footsteps could be heard, becoming louder as it grew closer.

"Someone's coming! Should we attack them?" Jay whispered to Lloyd, jumping up from the cot and assuming a fighting stance.

Lloyd also stood up quickly. He sniffed the air and held up his hand to stop his friend from shooting any lightning bolts. "No. I'm actually smelling something good. Maybe whoever's coming is friendly," he whispered back.

The owner of the stepping feet soon appeared on the other side of the iron bars. The tall, middle-aged man wore a shiny star on his vest and carried a tray of two steaming mugs of liquid. "I heard voices, so I figured you boys were awake now," he said as he balanced the tray with one hand while reaching for the keys on his belt with the other hand. He studied the ninja briefly as he placed one key in the lock of the cell door. "You're looking pretty fair to middlin' after your bender last night. I brought some coffee to help clear your brains."

"Thanks," Lloyd replied. He was relieved that the stranger seemed friendly, though he wasn't sure about the meaning of the phrases "fair to middlin'" and "bender".

The man, having unlocked the cell, pulled open the door and walked in, carrying the tray with both hands. Lloyd was surprised at the trust the man exhibited toward his prisoners by not guarding the exit. "Why are we in here?" he asked.

The man chuckled at Lloyd's seriousness. "Don't worry. You're not charged with anything. I always throw the drunk ones in here for the night. That way, they're off the street and they have a safe place to recover."

_He thought we were drunk!_ Lloyd was initially a bit indignant but quickly realized that the assumption was a more believable story than the truth.

The lawman held out the tray, indicating that Jay and Lloyd should take the mugs off it. "You boys seem to be new in town. I'm Fred Madden, the sheriff of this county. Who might you be?"

"I'm Lloyd Garmadon, and this is my friend, Jay Walker," Lloyd explained as he and his fellow ninja helped themselves to the coffee. "And you're right. We're very new in town. Thanks for the coffee."

Sheriff Madden tucked the now-empty tray under his arm. "And how long are you planning to stay here in Stockton?"

_So Stockton is the name of this place!_ Lloyd noted silently. He realized he didn't have a good answer to Sheriff Madden's question. "Well, uh -" he looked to Jay for assistance.

"Not long. We're just passing through," Jay piped up.

"Well, enjoy your stay while you're here." The sheriff tipped back the brim of his hat. "Though I suggest you boys avoid the Red Hat Saloon. Reckon that's where you went on your bender, since I found you passed out early this morning in the back alley of that place."

"We will," Jay nodded energetically, eager to stay on the sheriff's good side.

Sheriff Madden ambled toward the cell door. "You boys are free to go whenever you finish your coffee. You've slept it off by now." Suddenly he hesitated. Then, turning around and setting down the tray, he reached into his pocket and took out his wallet.

"Look, I didn't see any gear laying near you, so I figure someone stole it. I can look into it, but whoever took it is probably long gone by now." He took some bills from the wallet and held it out to the ninja brothers. "Since you boys seem like the decent sort, take this money and head on over to the dry goods store to get yourselves new coats and a few supplies. With this extra cold weather around here lately, you'll need something to wear over those...colorful...togs you got on."

Lloyd and Jay looked at each other and realized that their bright green and blue ninja gis would be conspicuous in their current environment. Still, Lloyd did not want to inconvenience the man who was proving to be an ally. "That's very nice of you, Sheriff Madden, but we can't possibly accept that."

The sheriff was a little taken aback by Lloyd's politeness. Usually the occupants of his cell were rude and impertinent. He grabbed Lloyd's hand - the one that wasn't holding the coffee mug - and pushed the money into his palm. "Please take it. This cold spell we're having is the worst one we've seen around these parts in a long time. And by buying yourself some new togs, you boys won't be such a target for fellas itchin' to stir up trouble, which'll make my job easier because there won't be any fight to clean up after."

Lloyd couldn't argue with that logic. "Thanks, Sheriff."

The lawman picked up the tray from the ground and raised his hand in farewell as he began to walk backward out of the cell. "I have to go out and take care of some things, so just put the coffee cups on my desk when you're done with them. And feel free to take the newspaper that's sitting there. Since you're new here, you can read it to find out about our town. The dry goods store is a few doors down from here, toward the livery stable." And with a wave, he disappeared through the cell door and back down the hall.

"Well, that was interesting," Jay commented, once they were certain the lawman was out of earshot.

"Yeah, can you believe he thought we were drunk?"

"Actually I was referring to the portal program sending us behind a saloon. I'm kinda disappointed that it didn't directly put us in the cell. Must mean it allowed extraneous data to influence the artificial intelligence functionality. Nya and I need to work on that when we get back."

_IF we get back._ Lloyd hoped that Jay's positive outlook would turn into reality, but the green ninja was inclined to plan for all possibilities, even the grim ones.

Finishing their coffee in a few gulps, they left the jail cell and made their way down the hall to the sheriff's desk to return the cups. Lloyd spotted the copy of the newspaper: the Stockton Daily Independent, dated January 4, 1880.

_1880\. Freaky_! he thought.

He folded up the paper and stuck it inside his boot, along with Sheriff Madden's money, and they stepped out of the jail and into the street, where they were greeted by cold air.

"Hoo boy! The sheriff wasn't kidding...it IS cold!" Jay loudly declared, folding his arms for warmth.

Lloyd shushed him. "Don't attract any more attention than we're already getting!" he hissed. "We're already getting weird looks from people because of our gis!" Indeed, a little boy across the street was pointing at them and trying to get his mother to look, too. "Let's hurry to that dry goods store and get some new clothes right away!"

As they walked down the wooden sidewalk, they heard a commotion on the street, at some distance behind them. A horse was galloping at full speed down the middle of the street toward them. It was dragging a wagon behind it, and someone on the wagon was screaming.

As the horse and wagon got closer, they could see that the screaming was being done by a red-headed woman wearing a flouncy green dress. She was pulling on the horse's reins with one hand and holding her matching hat to her head with the other.

"Help me! Help me! Sakes alive! Someone, please help!" she screamed.


	3. Making Their Presence Known

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (2020-03-10):**

**I thank MasterofCupcakes for inspiring me to finish this chapter! On her Wattpad account, she encouraged everyone to update one of their stories on March 5th, which was World Book Day in the U.K. and Ireland. Well, I'm close to being a week late in updating a fanfic, but without MoC's suggestion, I probably wouldn't be posting this chapter right now! So thanks for the encouragement, MoC!**

**At the start of the chapter below, Lloyd and Jay encounter a young woman in danger…**

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Making Their Presence Known**

With the runaway horse and wagon - and its terrified passenger - about to pass by the ninja brothers on their wild charge down the middle of the street, Lloyd had little time to think. Instead, his instinct as a Protector of Ninjago kicked in, and in that moment, his singular mission became the task of rescuing the woman in the green skirt.

"Jay! Let's hop on the cart!" he hollered, beginning to sprint along the edge of the street in the same direction as the horse.

"Got yer back, pardner!" Jay affirmed, following right behind him.

The horse soon caught up to them and passed them up, but before the wagon following it could pass them up, the highly trained ninja brothers nimbly leapt onto it. Jay landed in the wagon's open back. Lloyd ended up on the bench seat next to the woman. Dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of a strangely dressed person appearing on the seat next to her, she stopped screaming to stare at him.

Lloyd struggled to stay standing on the rocking fast-moving wagon as he quickly surveyed the situation. "Jay, after I take the civilian to safety, you stop the horse!" he hollered over the noise.

"Me? How am I supposed to do that?" the blue ninja protested loudly.

"Well, uh, let the horse take you to a place where there's no people, then figure out how to use your, uh" - Lloyd hesitated as he glanced at the young woman - "skills to get him to stop." _Ugh, how can I tell him to use his lightning power when she's listening?_

"Skills?! Are you crazy, Lloyd? I don't have any horse skills!" Jay screeched, steadying himself as the wagon went over a bump.

_He's not getting it! Am I gonna have to spill the beans about our powers?_ Lloyd clenched his teeth in frustration. Suddenly an inspiration struck him. "Jay, the horse is BOLTing. BOLT-ing!"

"Aha! Skills." Jay finally realized that Lloyd was trying to tell him to use his lightning bolt power. "Yes, I'll take care of it." He squeezed onto the bench seat next to Lloyd, took the reins from the woman, and sat down to take his turn at controlling the horse. "Whoa, boy - girl - whatever you are. Just stop!"

"OK, then." Lloyd turned his attention to the woman, who was still speechless. "Ma'am, don't be scared, but you and I are going to jump off the wagon. Right now."

The woman's face turned white. "Whaat?..."

"On the count of three. Ready? One…"

Lloyd purposely sprang into action early in order to prevent her from resisting. He scooped her up in his arms and, as she wailed in terror, deftly dove off the wagon with her. Meanwhile, the blue ninja, the horse, and the wagon careened off into the distance and disappeared.

Lloyd's forward momentum propelled the young woman and himself into a series of forward rolls along the dusty street until they finally came to a stop, with her body ending up on top of his. For several seconds, as a crowd hurried to gather around them, they simply lay there, catching their breaths from the exertion.

The young woman was the first to realize the compromising position in which they lay. "Oooh, I do declare my fairy tale is coming true, and my prince is wearing my favorite color," she grinned. She made no effort to move.

A second later, Lloyd also realized how they had landed, and the awkwardness immediately made him struggle to get the woman and himself up at the same time. Members of the crowd assisted both of them to their feet. Someone returned the woman's green hat to her, since she had let go of it during the jump.

"That was some stunt, pardner. I thought for sure you two were goners," one bystander commented.

"Yep, I never seed anythin' like it," added an old man.

"I never saw anything like HIM, either," the woman in the green skirt piped up as she replaced her hat on her head and dusted off her skirt and cloak. She nestled against Lloyd's chest and looked up at him with a big smile on her face. "I reckon I owe him a debt of gratitude. A BIIIIG debt of gratitude."

She batted her eyelashes at him. "My name's Katie O'Hara. What's your name, stranger?"

The green ninja cleared his throat nervously, for he had just noticed that because she was standing so close to him, he could see down her cloak and her dress' neckline and view more of her womanly charms than he was comfortable viewing. "Um, my name's Lloyd Garmadon. It's nice to meet you, Katie. Are you feeling all right after our jump?"

"Feelin' right as rain, Lloyd," Katie replied. "I sure hope you're fine, too. Wouldn't want anything to happen to these muscles," she commented as she massaged his biceps. "Though, come to think of it, it would be my great honor to nurse you back to health!"

Lloyd cleared his throat again. "I'm fine, but I'd better go see about my friend Jay."

"Why, of course. I need to come with you." Katie hooked her arm hooked firmly in Lloyd's. "To see about the horse and wagon, of course," she smiled.

The crowd dispersed as Lloyd and Katie headed down the street. "Let me buy you a drink later, to thank you for saving me," the redhead chattered. "I work at Miss Ginny's Saloon, and I was using Miss Ginny's horse and wagon to deliver a meal to her poor sweet cousin Matilda, who's been feeling poorly these last few days on account of this cold spell we're having. But on my way back to the saloon, something spooked Varina, and she suddenly took off down the street."

"Varina," Lloyd repeated thoughtfully. "Interesting name."

Katie smiled. "Miss Ginny named her after Mrs. Jefferson Davis."

Lloyd gave her a blank stare.

"Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy?" Katie looked at him expectantly, waiting for acknowledgement of the fact she had just stated.

Though Lloyd did not know what she was talking about, he figured he'd better give her that acknowledgement. "Uh, right."

"I suppose the War was a while ago," Katie continued, excusing Lloyd's slowness in remembering the name of the man who presided over the confederacy of Southern states, which included her beloved Georgia. "I was just a young girl when Sherman marched through our town."

Lloyd knew nothing about a Confederacy, or Davis, or Sherman, but he remained quiet and let Katie happily prattle on about her childhood for the next few blocks.

Suddenly they heard a man's voice roar. "Katie!"

A tall cowboy about their age, dressed in dusty clothes and needing a shave, briskly strolled toward them.

Katie immediately stopped walking and cursed under her breath. She briefly closed her eyes in frustration and waited for the man to approach them.

The cowboy reached them and planted himself in their path, his hands on his hips. "Katie, what are you doing with this...circus man?" the newcomer inquired, scowling at Lloyd and his green gi.

"Don't be disrespectful to him, Wade. He saved my life," the young woman admonished, clutching Lloyd's arm tighter.

Wade tilted his head and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Is that so, Circus Man?"

Katie gritted her teeth. "Wade, his name is Lloyd. Lloyd, meet Wade, who thinks he's my beau." She flicked her hand toward the rude cowboy in a half-hearted gesture of societal politeness. "Wade, why are you in town on a weekday anyway?"

"Uncle Amos sent me and some of the boys to take care of some business," Wade proudly informed her. "He trusts me to do stuff. You know, Katie, pretty soon I'll be his right hand man, and I'll make enough money and be respectable enough for you to wanna marry me!"

Katie grimaced. "The day I agree to marry you, Wade Hamilton, will be a cold day in -"

"Lloyd!"

The green ninja immediately recognized the voice calling to him as Jay's. He looked over Wade's shoulder, causing Wade to turn around to see who was yelling. The two young men and the red-headed woman watched as the blue ninja, riding in the formerly uncontrolled wagon, sedately guided the formerly uncontrolled horse up the street. He wore a wide grin.

"By Jiminy, here comes another circus man!" Wade exclaimed as the blue ninja approached the group.

_How did Jay manage to control the horse? And so quick? _Lloyd wondered silently.

"Whoa, horsie," Jay instructed the animal as he pulled on the reins, and it made a perfect stop next to the three pedestrians. "I remembered the commands Fritz Donnegan used when he rode a jupitorse in the 'Frontier of Jupiter' episode," he proudly commented to Lloyd.

_Ugh! Don't talk about Fritz Donnegan in front of the civilians!_ Lloyd silently chided Jay. To distract Katie and Wade from inquiring about Fritz, Lloyd immediately asked, "How'd you manage out there, Jay?"

Jay puffed out his chest. "There were some trees out in the woods that...must've fallen in a storm and formed a big circle. The horse ran a few times around the circle and eventually wore itself out."

"She does look a little worse for wear," Katie mused, stroking the mare. Then, with a sly grin, she turned to the cowboy. "Wade, honey," she addressed him in a syrupy voice, "would you be a dear and take Miss Ginny's horse to the livery stable and get her cleaned up, and make sure the wagon is all right?"

Wade raised an eyebrow.

"If you do, I'll save a dance for you on Saturday night," she promised, batting her eyelashes at him.

That sealed the deal for Wade. "Outta the wagon!" he commanded the blue ninja. Jay obliged, and Wade jumped up and immediately took his place on the bench.

Then, realizing that Katie would be left alone with the ninja brothers, he frowned.

As he led the horse away, he glared at Lloyd. "Remember this, Circus Man. Try anything with my girl, and I'm gonna make you wish you weren't born. And when Wade Hamilton makes a promise, he keeps it!"

* * *

"At least the portal brought us to a place with good food," Jay murmured quietly as he pushed his empty plate away from his seat at the corner table in Miss Ginny's Saloon.

Though Jay and Lloyd were currently the only two patrons in the establishment, due to the hour being too late for most people's midday meal and too early for a supper, the ninja brothers had kept their voices low during the course of the meal so as not to be heard by the barkeeper, who was inventorying the contents of the bar only a few yards away.

"That WAS good food," Lloyd agreed, setting down his fork. "And it was very nice of Katie to buy us lunch, though I wish she weren't so...attentive. I kinda want to leave here before she comes back downstairs to start her work shift tonight."

He sipped his sarsaparilla. "Speaking of tonight, I guess we'd better start thinking about where we're going to spend the night. Hopefully someplace where we can stay unnoticed. Or at least unnoticed by the half of Stockton that didn't see us rescue Katie," he remarked ruefully.

"And someplace where we can get a good night's sleep, so that tomorrow we can come up with a surefire plan to get back to Ninjago," Jay added, taking a sip of his own sarsaparilla. "Maybe after we go to the dry goods store for our new clothes, we can find the sheriff and ask him to recommend a place.

"Sure." Lloyd took another sip of sarsaparilla, but as he set down his glass, a small group of boisterous men entered the saloon, and his heart sank.

Wade Hamilton and three other cowboys had just come in.

They headed toward the bar, laughing and joking, but when Wade caught sight of Lloyd across the room, he paused, and a sneer crossed his face.

"Well, looky here, boys. It's the circus men!" he announced loudly, slowly sauntering over to the table where the young men sat. "Hey, boys, don't they look strange?"

Wade's friends followed him, offering a chorus of agreement.

"Oh, no," Lloyd muttered under his breath in anticipation of imminent trouble.

"In fact," Wade declared as he reached the ninjas' seats, "I think they look like…" - he bent close to Lloyd's face - "...freaks!" The other cowboys guffawed.

At that point Lloyd stood up, with Jay immediately following suit. "Look, we don't want trouble," he said, holding his hands up and open in a gesture of surrender. "We're gonna leave now." The two ninja brothers headed toward the front door.

Before they could take three steps, however, Wade grabbed Lloyd by the shoulder and spun the green ninja around to face him. "Hey, I didn't say you could leave, FREAK!" Then the cowboy clenched his right fist and struck Lloyd in the jaw.

Lloyd lost his balance and knocked over a nearby table, falling backward on top of it. One of the cowboys reached down with the intent of picking up Lloyd by his collar for the purpose of pummeling him some more, but the cowboy got a surprise. Lloyd, angry at being caught off guard by an opponent, grabbed a hold of the cowboy's shirt with his two hands and flipped him over his head, sending him flying into another saloon table.

A second later, Lloyd was back on his feet, deflecting a second punch from Wade and using ninja maneuvers to neutralize his attackers. Jay likewise busied himself with using fists and roundkicks to immobilize the other cowboys as they attempted to take him down as well.

Three short minutes and five busted tables later, a slightly breathless pair of ninja brothers remained standing while their four opponents lay sprawled out on the saloon floor, unconscious.

"How are we going to pay for this?" Lloyd worried aloud as he surveyed the aftermath. "This looks like more damage than Sheriff Madden's money will cover."

The barkeeper stood up from where he had crouched behind the bar for safety. "Don't worry, you didn't start it. I'm charging it to Amos Carver, Wade's uncle. But even if I had to pay for the damage myself, it'd be worth it, seeing that saphead knocked out cold in two shakes of a lamb's tail. You boys had better make yourselves scarce, though. When word gets around that you made a fool of Wade, he won't be too happy."

"So much for staying unnoticed," Lloyd muttered, picking up and righting a fallen chair.

"Boys!" a voice suddenly called out. "I like the way you fight!"


End file.
